Organizational Development


		Kaplan Consulting Group, Inc. 853 Broadway, Ste. 1211 New York, NY 10003 212 477-9391 (fax) 212 477-4077 kaplanconsulting@juno.com


	Building a High-Perfomrance Organization Case Study			ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT "When so great a wave of change crashes into the society and the economy, traditional managers - accustomed to operating in safe waters - are vulnerable to being thrown overboard. The habits of lifetime ... the very habits that helped them succeed.... now become counter-productive. And the same is true for organizations. The very services, procedures and organizational forms that helped them succeed in the past often prove their undoing. Indeed, the first rule of survival is clear: *Nothing is more dangerous than yesterday's success." Alvin Toffler* "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." Daniel Boorstin ORGANIZATION AUDIT The more management can understand about its true impact on the company's culture and people, the better equipped company leadership will be to influence the performance of the company going forward. In our many years of experience, the only reliable way to get at the culturally-driven behavior patterns that are often lurking about is by conducting an Organizational Audit. By this we mean sitting down - one-on-one and within a confidential framework - with a cross-sectional sample of the company's employees and interviewing them, using a structured interview protocol to elicit these kinds of subtle but critical data. For manifold reasons, conducting an audit in this manner yields powerfully rich data. Employees open up and discuss thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints that they've rarely if ever articulated. And, when the interview data are distilled in the right way, a virtual roadmap emerges that is directly actionable. In this way the interview data essentially speak for themselves and become the "experts", as it were.
				back to top
	Case Study			BUILDING A HIGH-PERFOMRANCE ORGANIZATION THAT IS VALUE- AND VALUES-DRIVIN Changing an organization - changing a human system - is, at its heart, a process of finding and then using sources of organizational leverage. From the very beginning of the change process (the Discovery Phase - to the final step in the cycle - the Monitoring and Refinement Phase), mastering the change process is about identifying an array of leverage points (organizational levers) and then taking advantage of these levers' multiplier effects. What follows is an overview of the leveraging process, as we practice it in our work, for shifting or redesigning an organization's cultural, social architecture, and people practices. 1. Discovery Goal: Make an airtight case for change Tools: Web-enabled survey system High-impact interview protocol Competitive analysis Benchmarking Customer/Client assessments Gap analysis Focus: Create a Sense of Urgency and a Must-Change Mindset 2. Leadership Signs On - Generate Maximum Motivation And Energy In The Leadership Team Goal: Top leaders are intellectually and motivationally prepared to plot the course, sell it, and deploy resources. Key Steps: First build trust and then a common sense of urgency and commitment Team composition is critical Inundate team with data Surface and then hammer away at the gaps: How We Are vs. How We Should Be Focus: Prepare Top Leaders To Take a Strong Mandate To the Entire Organization 3. Change Strategy - Create A Bold Vision And Bold Goals Goal: Create the blueprint for a high-performance enterprise Key Steps: Conduct Future Mapping Create Transformational Vision, Mission, and Core Values Craft business strategy linked to Vision Tools: Driving-Forces Analysis Organizational Performance Scorecard Competency Modeling Strategic Performance Development System Focus: Deliver A Compelling Call-To-Arms That Commits the Organization To A Bold Future 4. Alignment- Build Consensus And Commitment Throughout The Entire Organization Goal: Rally the troops, align leadership behavior, and invite broad participation Tools and Methods: Inundate organization with Study findings and the developing Response Strategy Coach leadership on how to exhibit the behavior they have promised Dramatically expand communication infrastructure Start working the Twelve Levers that impact organizational performance Be open to resistance and confront it directly and with finesse Broadly involved managers and individual contributors in launching Response Initiative Teams (RIT) Focus: Create a Consensual Mindset and Commitment to the Vision and the Plan 5. Implementation - Launch A Broad Initiative Capitalizing On An Array Of Organizational Levers Goals: Exploit every possible organizational lever. Critical Levers: Deliver a series of near-term wins Eliminate counter-Vision barriers Realign all systems and people practices with Vision, and Core Strategy Hold quarterly retreats for Leadership Cabinet Charge key line managers with leadership of RIT's Maximize involvement and feedback Train people in Vision-mandated competencies Focus: Launch the Change Initiative 6. Monitoring & Refinement - Continually Test And Rework The Change Process Goal: Create a learning organization Metric Tools: Strategic Performance Development System 360˚/540˚feedback instruments Organizational Performance Scorecard Continuous learning/improvement mechanisms Focus: Test, Rework, Test, ...
				back to top
	Building a High-Perfomrance Organization			BUILDING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATION FOR A MULTI-FACETED ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY A Case Study: Situation: · A privately held company that was newly acquired by a Fortune 500 Company · A new president that rose through the ranks of the target company · A traditional management culture (aka, a command-and-control style) · US $0.5B annual gross revenues · 5,000 employees · Three major operating divisions Objectives: Create high-performance people practices Build leadership competencies and benchstrength Ready the organization for dramatically heightened competitive environment Become employer of choice in newly competitive environment Become premiere entertainment destination Blueprint & Achievements: Phase I Discovery: Organizational Audit - ODS Survey and 80 interviews Competitive Analysis Benchmarking and Gap Analysis Phase II Leadership Sign On: Debriefed Leadership Cabinet as a group Then a debrief of each Divisional leader by CEO, VPHR, & KCG/TGCP Gap Analysis conducted for each Division Phase III Development of Change Strategy: Cabinet retreats: Vision, Mission, and Core Values Strategic Business Plan crafted Organizational Performance Scorecard designed Each Division devised Roll-Out Strategy Phase IV Alignment of the Organization: One-on-one coaching of top three levels of management re: walking the values Executives debriefed entire organization Summary of Strategic Plan distributed to 5,000 employees Multiple Response initiative Teams (RIT's) formed to own/execute various parts of Roll-Out-Strategy Built dozens of new communication channels Phase V Implementation, Integration, and Coordination: Institute Succession Planning and Development Initiate Upward Evaluation process for supervisors/managers Form cross-functional Marketing Team Form Customer Service Task Force Deliver Customer Service Training to entire company Implement Mystery Customer Study Refine compensation system Launch RIT's, e.g., one Division identifies 27 key action items Phase VI Consolidation, Evaluation, and Refinement Maintain high-level of feedback: 360˚, upward Evaluations customer data, repeat employee survey, etc. Monitor Organizational Performance Scorecard progress Continually improve: Came on-line during second year - mentoring program, day-care center, company store, enhanced recruiting/selection protocols, Customer Service II, etc.